MLB Preview: 5 arbitration eligible players who won big
Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays got an American League MVP effort out of a player who earned his 2015 salary from arbitration proceedings. After acquiring their third baseman in a trade with Oakland, the Jays reached an agreement to pay Josh Donaldson $4.3MM for his services right around this time last year.
The then 29-year-old led the American League in a number of major statistical offensive categories. His intense style of play quickly became a fan favorite at Rogers Centre and undoubtedly helped the city land their first postseason baseball experience in over two decades time.
Major League Baseball is unique in its process for settling contracts through a court-like proceeding with a third party arbitrator working over the details amongst the other two parties involved –the club and a player/his agent.
Courtesy of sportingcharts.com, the credentials to be eligible for arbitration are defined as such:
In baseball, a player is eligible for salary arbitration if they’ve had less than six years of service and A) without a contract for the next season and B) has been tendered a contract by his current team by the deadline and C) has been on a major league roster for at least 3 seasons or D) has been on a major league roster for 2 years but has accumulated service time that has placed him in the top 22 percent in this class of players.
Next: Number 5
5. Mike Moustakas – KCR
Coming off a World Series championship as a “small market” team, the Kansas City Royals found themselves in a bit of a predicament. For starters, there is always pressure to continue putting a winning product on the field after winning it all. In order to do that, an organization needs to show appreciation for its players that won them a championship by compensating them handsomely. Fans don’t like to see key pieces or familiar faces leave town, citing a major reason the Royals agreed to terms with left fielder Alex Gordon.
Lorenzo Cain was one of two familar faces who settled outside of arbitration by signing an extension with the Royals. He belongs nowhere on this list because he is one of the finest defensive center fielder’s in baseball and led his team in WAR (7.2) and OPS+ (126) in 2015 amongst all position players, excluding the designated hitter. Cain will make $6.5MM and $11MM over the next two seasons.
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Comparatively, Mike Moustakas will make $5.6MM and $8.7MM from 2016-2017. Both he and Cain have just over four years of service time under their belts, so for Moustakas to be making only $900,000 less than Cain this season, is a blessing to his bank account. Cain’s career WAR is 19.6, while Moustakas’ is 8.9. Cain has a career slash line of .288/.337/.418. Moustakas falls short in every category with a .247/.303/.400 career line. Cain hit a career high 16 home runs last year and is a threat to steal bases with 28 in each of his last two campaigns. Moustakas has 11 career swipes and despite being labelled a power hitting third baseman, has never hit more than 22 home runs in a season.
After mostly disappointing in his first four regular seasons with KC, Moustakas looked like he turned things around in the first half of 2015 with a .297 AVG en route to making his first All-Star appearance. He hit for power in the second half with 15 round trippers, but his season average dipped to .284. Entering his age 27 season, Moose will need to build his resume by maintaining or bettering his 2015 numbers. FanGraphs projects his home run, RBI and batting average totals to all come in under where they were last year.
For all these reasons, a team that valued his 2016 arbitration salary at $4.2MM instead comes out of negotiations with two years and a guaranteed $14.3MM in earnings. Moustakas can thank his agent Scott Boras for his future short-term wealth.
Next: Number 4
4. J.D. Martinez – DET
Days before Opening Day 2014, J.D. Martinez was without a contract or team to play for. Not because there was a bidding war in free agency to acquire him and negotiations between clubs and his representatives could not reach a deal, but because the Houston Astros relieved him of his services on March 22.
The Astros loss was the Tigers gain. Martinez signed a minor league contract on March 24, modified his swing and plate approach before raking in Triple-A to the tune of a .308-10-22 line in only 17 games and found shortly thereafter found himself inserted into a lineup with Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. Being surrounded by such illustrious hitters rubbed off on the 26-year-old, who finished the season with a .315 BA, 23 HRs and 76 RBI in only 123 games. He was initially signed strictly as depth and made around 500K in 2014.
Fast forward two years later and Martinez is the starting right fielder in a still stacked Tigers lineup, earning quite the pay bump. After showing his talents over a full season in 2015 where he put together a very impressive .282-38-102 line, Martinez’s salary will jump from $3MM a year ago to $6.75MM in 2016 and $11.75MM in 2017. Not bad for a guy who was out of work only two years ago.
After adding Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin to an outfield that already features Martinez and Anthony Gose, the Tigers have another strong ensemble of hitters to call upon in 2016. Martinez should slot nicely into the No. 4/5/6 slot in the batting order as he did for the majority of last season. The midpoint between club and player for Martinez’s arbitration amount in 2016 was $7MM, so an average salary of $9.25MM over the next two years is a nice boost to his ego.
Next: Number 3
4. Brandon Belt – SFG
Talk to any San Francisco Giants fan and they will tell you they’re still waiting for Brandon Belt to break out. The first baseman has solid potential, but he’s only been able to showcase it in small sample sizes since entering the league in 2011. That, and the fact injuries have put him on the shelf for significant amounts of time.
Belt has only once registered more than 500 at-bats in a season (2013). He hasn’t recorded 20 home runs or 70 RBI in a single campaign either, yet he’s set to make nearly $2MM more in salary this season ($6.2MM) than Josh Donaldson did in 2015.
Defensively, he’s a liability at first or in left field. Belt’s dWAR numbers are consistently in the negatives year-in-year-out. Like the previous two names on this list, Belt signed an extension and avoided arbitration. He was granted $900,000 more in salary for this season than San Francisco wanted to pay him with their arbitration offer. Though there’s less security than with multi-term contracts, Belt will have pressure on him to finally deliver.
The Giants avoided arbitration with him last preseason by inking him to a one year deal. Belt’s inability to become a powerful and consistent presence in the lineup is mirrored by San Francisco’s unwillingness to offer the 28-year-old a long-term contract.
Next: Number 2
2. Aroldis Chapman – NYY
It’s hard to believe the flame-throwing Cuban southpaw is only 27 and still arbitration eligible. Then again it isn’t, because no team has locked him up long-term, probably for fear of a potential UCL tear.
Any way you slice it, Chapman is a beast and immediatley gives the New York Yankees the AL Central’s best bullpen. Because he is used as a late innings reliever, Chapman’s athleticism is often under appreciated. It might seem like $11.325MM is a lot to pay a relief pitcher. Chapman is more than just that. Only days after acquiring him, manager Joe Girardi named Chapman the Yankees’ new closer.
That’s really saying something when Andrew Miller (2.04 ERA, 100 K, 36 SV in ’15) and Dellin Betances (1.50, 131, 9) are already on the roster. All three are formidable hurlers. It’s just that at the moment, Chapman is putting up Hall of Fame numbers. His K/9 of 15.4 since he entered the league in 2010 is by far the highest of any pitcher in that timeframe. Second on the list is Craig Kimbrel, who is almost a full point behind him at 14.55.
If the Yankees make the postseason, it will be thanks to the strength of their bullpen. Chapman should play a large part in that. The Bronx Bombers have never been shy about awarding monstrous contracts to players who perform at a high level while in pinstripes. Chapman’s 2016 salary makes him the highest paid reliever in all of MLB.
Next: Number 1
1. Josh Donaldson – TOR
It really couldn’t be anyone else in this spot. The reigning MVP will see his salary spike almost three times higher from where it was in 2016. The two year deal is likely incentive laden and will pay him a base of $11.65MM in 2016, followed by $17MM in 2017. At which point in 2017, he will be the second highest paid third baseman in all of baseball, tied with Pablo Sandoval and surpassed by only David Wright.
After last season’s output, it almost seems criminal for the guy to not yet be making over $20MM annually when you look at the combined lack of production by Wright (.279 AVG, 13 HR, 80 RBI) and Kung Fu Panda (.262-26-120) since 2014. Donaldson’s numbers meanwhile, between Oakland and Toronto from 2014-15, produces a .276-70-221 line.
The contract is good for the Blue Jays financially and spiritually. It’s is appreciated greatly by Donaldson himself, who posted this when news of the new deal first broke.
For a more in-depth analysis of the contract itself, you can read another Call to the Pen article here.